DRUMMER CAFE

hey guys, im starting to play more funk groove. i can play good with a click but it is really rigid and boring. how do i make groove like the pros? thanx nick

Believe me, I am probably the last person to be giving advice on Funk rhythms/feel, but here I go anyway.......

Keep it simple to start and maybe try playing a bit behind or ahead of the beat--particularly the SD beats.  This might help "open you up" a little.

record yourself!  its the 2nd mantra of the DC's ten commandments.  the first being "get a teacher".  

seriously, the more you hear yourself, the more you'll understand what it is about your groovin' that might be a little off.  e.g. for me, it was a rushing and overly loud hihat.  switched to lesser assaulting pair, and learned to ease back my right hand, while maintaining a solid backbeat.  later i realized my bass was a wee bit in rushing, too.  and now, its all slowly coming together.  

also, any bassists you know with whom you can jam?  grooving in any genre, IMHO, is all about team work, and you wont get better unless you play with peoples.

if ya like, when i finally find some free time from work, i'll record / click track a few bass lines into my trusty US122, and you could try practicing to them.

the easiest way I have found to improve feel is two fold 1) improve your coordination (any good book will do ie. the new breed) this way you will know more complicated things so the easy stuff (most funk) will sound much more relaxed. 2) practice at an extreme slow speed say 40bpm....take any funk groove play with the click at that tempo for 5 minutes a day and you will be grooving in no time. Playing slow is way harder than playing fast because you have to be concious of all the time between the notes, but once you know it at a slow tempo your feel at a normal tempo will be greatly improved because your not thinking about all the notes anymore. Try this for one week and I assure you that you will see a huge difference.